Underneath the Laughter
by Jess and Lin
Summary: How did the Guardians react to Jack? Set before (Snowflakes) On My Wrist. T for self harm, trigger warning
1. Chapter 1

Hey, FrostFan, remember your idea about the scene where the Guardians find out? Here's how Sandy met Jack - and how he found out. Hope it's okay.

~RotG~

The first to find out about Jack self-harming was Sandy.

When the two first met, Sandy was passing over a small town and saw a teenager walking around on his own. He looked up as Sandy was flying over him, and Sandy smiled down at him and waved.

Jack was speechless for a moment, realizing someone could actually _see _him. He hadn't thought there would be other people who could see him - not after spending so many months on his own with no one noticing him. "Wait!" He flew up to the golden cloud, startling Sandy. "You - you can _see _me?"

Sandy nodded, smiling brightly.

"But - _how_? No one else can see me - " Jack fell silent as he remembered the last time he'd tried to talk to the children who lived near his lake. He shook his head and sat on the edge of the cloud, waiting for the golden little man to reply.

Sandy was frowning to himself as he thought about Jack's situation. He had never heard of anyone who couldn't be seen - unless they didn't have believers. Sandy finally shrugged helplessly at Jack, who looked crestfallen. Then Sandy pointed up at the moon and made a question mark.

Jack hardly glanced at the moon as he sighed. "I've asked him, but...he never answers me." Jack finally noticed the silence and looked at the stranger curiously. "Can you talk?"

Sandy shook his head ruefully.

"Why not?"

Sandy made a picture of a child sleeping and pretended to speak. As he mouthed random gibberish, the sand-child woke up suddenly.

Jack blinked and tilted his head. "Oh, so the kids will wake up if you talk?"

That was close enough. Sandy nodded as he sent out more dreams as the the Guardian's cloud arrived at another town.

Jack watched in fascination. "Is that sand?"

Sandy smiled at the look of amazement on the teen's face and sent a trail of sand toward him. Jack hesitantly reached out and touched it. A golden butterfly appeared and flew around him, causing Jack to laugh.

"Whoa!" He laughed again as the butterfly landed on his shoulder, it's wings flapping lazily. "What are these?"

Sandy waved a hand at the town as the dreamsand made its way through several windows. Jack leaped from the golden cloud and looked into the windows. The children, teens and adults - all of them had various people and animals over their heads and were smiling in their sleep. They seemed happy with the stranger's gifts.

"Dreams..." Jack didn't sleep, but he knew about dreams.

After a while, he flew back to the golden man's cloud. Jack landed on the cloud again, and the two sat in silence while Sandy gave away more dreams. Jack had heard of the Sandman, the Easter Bunny - all of them. The stranger beside him _had _to be the Sandman!

"Hey, what's your name anyway?" Jack asked after a while.

Jack watched carefully as the stranger created a man out of sand. _It is him!_ he thought, excitedly. He'd heard a lot about the man who created dreams, and he had just met him! Now Jack wanted to go meet everyone else...

"Sandman? And you - you give the kids dreams, right?"

Sandy smiled and nodded. Jack looked at the town where the children were sleeping soundly. "That's so cool," he breathed, awed. Then his face fell slightly as he remembered what his "gift" could do. The most damage a dream could do was make a person cry. He shook his head as he mumbled sadly, "All I can do is make things cold."

As Jack stood up abruptly to leave, Sandy quickly tugged on the teen's sleeves and made a question mark.

"What?" Jack didn't understand.

Sandy didn't want to seem rude, but he pointed at Jack and shrugged with another question mark above his head. Jack understood this time.

_The Sandman wants to know my name? _He grinned and replied cheerfully, "Oh, I'm Jack Frost!"

Almost three centuries later, Sandy was traveling over Burgess when he noticed Jack walking around on his lake. He was holding one of his blue sleeves, which was torn open.

Jack noticed the Guardian of Dreams and flew up to meet him. "Hey, Sandy!"

Sandy waved at him and then pointed at the sleeve with a concerned look and a question mark.

Jack held up his arm and laughed. "It got caught on a few branches," he explained with a smile, shrugging. "I'll just get a new one."

Sandy smiled back and glanced at his younger friend's sleeve. Then he noticed the marks on the teen's arm. He frowned as Jack made himself comfortable on the cloud. Sandy recognized the scars. He had seen many people with them before, and he had always tried to give them the best dreams he could think of, often having to chase away the nightmares that often plagued them.

He tugged on Jack's arm and pointed at the scars. Jack bit his lip and looked down, and Sandy knew for sure what they were. But Sandy created a tree with leafless branches, hinting that maybe the scars were from getting caught in the sharp twigs.

Jack shook his head slowly. He trusted Sandy, and he didn't like lying to him. The older Guardian had been his only friend for a very long time - besides the Moon, but he hadn't spoken to Jack since the day he was...born. On an impulse, he turned back to his oldest friend and asked him seriously, "Can I tell you a secret?"

Sandy nodded. Jack hesitated and took a deep breath to calm himself.

He had never told anyone about it, so he had no idea how to explain it. He had seen the teens who had been caught, and he had seen the ones who decided they didn't want to do it anymore and confessed to someone they trusted.

But Jack never had anyone to talk to about it until he had become a Guardian. The other Guardians were busy, but they were making more time for him to make up for the years they had neglected him. Until Jack had become a Guardian, he had been sure he would be alone forever. But he had friends now, a family who cared about him.

He had tried to quit before, but he couldn't handle it. He was hoping things would different now that he had people who cared about him.

"I - I cut myself," Jack admitted, lowering his head in shame. "I've been trying to quit, but..."

He didn't dare look at Sandy, afraid of the disappointment he would see. Instead, he stared at the distant ground for a while before a small, golden blur landed on his covered wrist. "What - ?" Jack looked at the small butterfly on his wrist, then looked up at Sandy, who was smiling. Jack shook his head, confused. "I don't get it."

Sandy sighed silently and looked around carefully. There was someone he had been watching over for a while who lived in the area. He found the house quickly, then motioned for Jack to follow him. He led Jack to an open window, and the two Guardians saw a fifteen year old girl lying in bed and staring at something on her wrist.

Jack stepped in and knelt beside her bed, looking at her wrists. She was staring at two red butterflies, and she reached over to the desk beside her bed and grabbed a marker to trace over the fading butterflies. But underneath the butterflies, Jack could see the scars.

"She - she cuts herself too?" Jack looked back at Sandy, who had also entered the room. Sandy nodded sadly.

Jack looked at the butterfly on his own wrist. Then he frowned at the girl, who had sat up. She grabbed a picture frame with an old photo of a family. There was the little girl with her two older siblings, grinning at the camera while their parents smiled politely.

There was another, smaller but more recent photo of the girl with only her older brother and sister.

"Where are her parents?" Jack asked softly.

Sandy made a picture of a mother leaving her family while the father faded away. The older sister was running around and feeding the younger children.

Jack felt his heart break for the girl. "So their mom just left them? And their dad - did he die?" Sandy nodded. Jack shook his head. "Does she blame herself?" He looked at Sandy. "Is that why she cuts herself?"

Sandy nodded again.

The girl's phone went off. She paused briefly before grabbing her phone and walking out of the room.

Jack thought about following her, but Sandy didn't move. Sandy knew she was going to hang out with her boyfriend and their friends, and she would fine - unless she started drinking or smoking again. Then things would go downhill again.

"She only cuts?" Jack asked suddenly, as if reading Sandy's mind. Sandy shook his head, wincing. Jack sighed quietly and his shoulders slumped. "I guess not."

After a while, Jack raised his arm to examine the golden butterfly. "So this - it's something to stop me from cutting?" Sandy was startled out of his thoughts, but he nodded and sat on the girl's bed. He pointed at Jack's butterfly, then at himself. He created the butterflies that were on the girl's wrists and pointed at her siblings in the recent photo.

"The butterflies... They represent family?" Jack guessed. "Right?"

Sandy gave Jack a thumbs-up and smiled. Jack finally caught onto what Sandy had been trying to tell him that whole time and hugged his shorter friend. Sandy was surprised but hugged him back.

Jack's voice nearly broke as he spoke. "Thanks, Sandy."

~RotG~

You don't need to read (Snowflakes) to understand this story, mostly 'cause this one's like a prequel.

Also, I'm gonna keep the reponses to the reviews from this story and (Snowflakes) separate. I swear I'm not ignoring anyone! You guys are too awesome to ignore. :)

Have a great week, everyone!


	2. Chapter 2

Jack had never actually met Tooth until he was chosen to be a Guardian, but he _had_ heard about Tooth from various conversations and Sandy. He had seen the fairies, but he had never met them because they were always so busy.

Jack knew Tooth had been busy, just like Sandy, so he knew it wasn't her fault that they hadn't met before. Jack had to admit that he was often too busy trying to break in to North's workshop to think about meeting Tooth. But he could imagine what his sister would say if she knew Jack had met and even worked with the Tooth Fairy.

"Jack!" Tooth nearly tackled the teen in a hug, bringing him out of his thoughts abruptly. When Tooth released him, she noticed the golden butterfly hanging from on a thin chain, which had been carefully carved out of frosted ice.

"Where did you get this?" Tooth asked him, amazed by the detail. Her fingers skimmed over the chain, afraid of breaking (or melting) it.

Jack looked down at the necklace, surprised. He had forgotten it was there. "Sandy made the charm for me," he replied, adding proudly, "but I made the chain myself."

"It looks amazing, Jack!" Tooth smiled at him. "How did you learn to make it?"

There was something oddly familiar about the golden butterfly, but Tooth couldn't figure out why.

Jack shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I had a lot of time," he said vaguely, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal.

But to Tooth, it was a big deal. She felt ashamed of herself because she had never taken the time out to meet Jack before he was chosen to be a Guardian.

Baby Tooth arrived and flew around Jack eagerly, squeaking loudly.

Jack laughed. "Hey, Baby Tooth!"

"She missed you," Tooth told him, smiling. Baby Tooth squeaked in embarrassment.

"Did you?" Jack asked the small fairy, who nodded. He laughed again and cupped his hands together for her to sit down. She chirped at him cheerfully.

Baby Tooth glanced at Jack's wrists, looking under his sleeves while he talked to Tooth. The fairy had seen the teen's scars when she helped him to see his memories in Antarctica. She hadn't mentioned them, but she tried to hint to Tooth that Jack was probably lonely.

Tooth was more than happy to let Jack visit whenever he wanted to, but Baby Tooth noticed that many more scars had appeared since then.

She looked at the butterfly on Jack's necklace and remembered a teenage girl who had gotten a tattoo of butterflies on her shoulder to cover her scars. Baby Tooth had been the main fairy who had given the teen the memories she needed to get through everything that was going wrong in her life.

The teenager had grown up and had a family of her own. She eventually quit cutting and started working at a job she loved. Baby Tooth would often check on the woman and was glad to find teeth under her children's pillows.

Baby Tooth doubted Jack could have a happy ending like the woman's, but she was hoping he would find one with the Guardians.

Jack was laughing at something Tooth had said, and Baby Tooth smiled at them. Things had to get better.

"So now you're helping collect the teeth?" Jack asked curiously.

"Yes." Tooth sighed. "I forgot how much I missed it."

Baby Tooth chirped and flew around the Guardian of Memories, trying to cheer her up.

Tooth smiled and held out her hand to Baby Tooth, who sat down again. "My fairies appreciate the help too. They told me they wished they could've seen us collecting the teeth on our own."

"They know about that? How - ?" Jack looked at Baby Tooth, who bowed her head in with a sheepish smile.

Baby Tooth squeaked an apology. "They love to gossip," Tooth commented, causing Baby Tooth to blush.

"Hey, maybe I can help sometime?" Jack offered, swinging his staff absently.

"Oh, you don't have to - " Tooth began, but Jack shrugged.

"I don't have much else to do," he pointed out calmly. "And if it helps the fairies, I don't mind."

Tooth beamed and hugged him. "That's so sweet of you! You're welcome to help whenever you want!"

Baby Tooth chirped in agreement.

Jack laughed, and Tooth let him go. "I'm glad I could help," Jack told her, grinning.

After Jack left to collect teeth, Baby Tooth felt torn. Jack didn't know she had seen his scars, but Tooth needed to know about them. She followed Tooth and listened to her give orders to the other fairies. It took a while before Tooth noticed the little fairy's odd behavior.

"Baby Tooth, what's wrong?" Tooth asked, concerned. "Are you alright?"

Baby Tooth hesitated, gaining Tooth's full attention. _Now or never_, Baby Tooth thought before she told Tooth all about Jack's scars.

Tooth was horrified to hear that Jack was cutting and finally realized what the butterfly was for. She had heard about the Butterfly and Hearts Projects while collecting teeth. The children she collected teeth from were usually too young, but she had seen their older siblings and even a few parents who self-harmed. But she had also seen the ones who were fighting to recover from the addictive habit and tried to give their best memories back when they were close to giving in.

Sometimes it helped them, and Tooth was relieved.

Other times she watched helplessly and sat beside them or talked to them soothingly.

They couldn't hear her since they no longer believed in the Tooth Fairy, but Tooth still hoped that they could somehow sense that someone was there and cared about them.

"What are we going to do?" Tooth fretted, flying around anxiously while her fairies chirped anxiously as word got around. Tooth remembered that Jack would be back soon and turned to the fairies. "Not a word about any of this to Jack!" They all nodded as Tooth turned back to Baby Tooth. "Does North and Bunny know?"

Baby Tooth shook her head.

Tooth bit her lip, then ordered Baby Tooth, "Find Sandy! We have to talk to him!"

Baby Tooth nodded and flew away. Tooth went back to giving orders, constantly glancing at the sky. There was nothing to do but wait for Sandy to arrive.

Jack had come and gone several times, and Tooth kept glancing nervously at his sleeves. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be alright, but she wasn't supposed to know about Jack's scars yet. She doubted he ever wanted her to know, which worried her more. _How long has he been cutting?_ she wondered when Jack had left again. She shook her head and tried to focus on giving orders.

Sandy finally arrived with Baby Tooth and noticed Tooth's anxiety. He shrugged at her with a question mark.

Tooth had told herself that she would deal with the situation calmly.

"_Why didn't you tell me that Jack cuts himself?!_"

She decided being calm was overrated when Jack was involved. Especially if Jack was getting hurt.

Sandy looked surprised and glanced at Baby Tooth, who looked guilty. He created a miniature Jack who was talking to Tooth, then created another question mark.

Tooth shook her head sadly. "No, he hasn't said anything." She gave a few orders to the fairies and turned back to Sandy hopefully. "Did he tell _you _anything?"

Sandy nodded and pinched the air, as if saying "A little."

"Well, what do you think we should do?" Tooth asked him nervously. "Should we talk to him about it?"

Sandy shrugged and made another Jack along with a miniature Tooth. The small Jack was talking to the Tooth, who hugged him and listened. It took Tooth a moment to understand.

"Be there for him? That's it?" She wasn't too sure about that option.

Sandy made a miniature of North and Bunny, then shrugged.

Tooth thought about it.

The other two Guardians probably had no idea how to deal with the situation either. Bunny lived under the ground most of the year, and North was always at the workshop. But Bunny was the Guardian of Hope, and North was like a father to Jack.

"They should know," Tooth finally decided with a nod. "That's a great idea, Sandy."

Sandy smiled and gave her a thumbs-up before leaving.

Tooth had decided to tell North and Bunny at the next meeting before Jack arrived, but somehow he had gotten to North's workshop before her. When Tooth and Baby Tooth arrived, Jack was sitting on the globe, trying to stay out of Bunny's reach.

"Jack Frost, I swear, if you don't come down - !"

"Make me, kangaroo!" Jack laughed.

Bunny was losing patience very quickly. "Jack! Get ya scrawny butt down from there!"

Jack rolled his eyes and laid back on the globe with his arms behind his head. Baby Tooth sat beside him, chirping softly. Tooth patted Bunny's shoulder with a small smile and flew up to Jack, who was making it snow to irritate Bunny even more.

"What are we doing here anyway?" Jack looked down at the area on the globe where Burgess was. "I'm supposed to meet Jamie tonight."

"I'm sure Jamie won't mind waiting," Tooth replied calmly. "And I explained it to you before, haven't I? We all have a job to do, and we need to make sure Pitch isn't interfering."

"Then why am I here?" Jack asked her as he sat up suddenly. "I don't have a job like you do."

"You protect the children and keep them safe," Tooth reminded him.

"So do you guys." Jack waved his staff carelessly in the general direction of the other Guardians and sighed. "So why am I here?"

"Jack..." Tooth frowned slightly as Jack pulled his hood up. _Is he...feeling insecure?_ She glanced nervously at his arms. Tooth didn't know what made Jack cut himself, but being around the fairies hadn't helped him much. His loneliness probably played a part somewhere, but was he cutting because he was insecure?

Tooth looked down at Sandy, who was watching North and Bunny bicker. _Maybe it's because Jack doesn't feel like he belongs with us. We're all older than him, and he hasn't been around us for very long._

"Jack," Tooth finally said, looking back at the younger Guardian, "you are here because we need you."

Jack gave her a confused look. "You - what?" _They really need me? For what?_

Baby Tooth had no idea where the conversation was going, but she chirped in agreement as Tooth nodded.

"Wonder, memories, dreams, hope - " Tooth placed a hand on the globe, and the warm lights underneath her hand made her smile. "These are all important because they give people - not just children - something to live for. But having fun also makes their life more easier to live as they make new memories while chasing their wonderful dreams with hope." She looked at Jack, who was staring at the lights with a surprised expression; he had never seen it that way before.

"But I haven't really done anything," Jack insisted. "All I do is make it snow." _And make a few people have a little fun._

Tooth didn't like to talk about Pitch and what happened that Easter when Jack became a Guardian, but she felt it was necessary this time. "Jack, when Pitch made the children stop believing in us, you gave them a reason to believe again. By having fun, they found their belief in hope, wonder, dreams and their memories again." She patted Jack's shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "You are here because the children still need you. And we need you to help us keep them safe and happy." _Even if most of them don't know you yet_, she added silently to herself.

Jack nodded slowly as he pulled his hood down. "I think I get it now." Then he grinned mischievously. "So does that mean I'm more important than Bunny?"

"Not on your nelly!" Bunny yelled at Jack, his ears flattening in annoyance.

Sandy noticed Jack and Tooth on the globe and made a picture of the two in a tree with musical notes and hearts flying around. It took them a moment to understand before North and Bunny started laughing. Tooth blushed while Jack got up to chase Sandy around the room. Baby Tooth squeaked and hid behind Tooth when the two Guardians nearly ran her over.

"Boys, behave!" Tooth scolded them and checked on Baby Tooth. Jack glared at Sandy, who was making more musical notes as he "whistled" innocently.

~RotG~

Thanks to everyone who favorited/following this story!

To **SnowFrost Flower **- Thanks! I wasn't sure if it seemed in character for him.

To **smallvillephantom14** - I'm glad you like it. :)


	3. Chapter 3

Jack had met Bunny on the Easter Sunday of '68, and it was a pretty terrible day for Jack, considering how it ended.

Jack later found out that the Groundhog _hadn't_ seen his shadow, which was supposed to mean that winter was almost over. But because the winter spirit had played a prank on him a few days before, the Groundhog had told Jack that winter would go on for another six weeks.

For a long time, Jack had only talked to Sandy and the moon. But after a few years of winter going on for too long, the Groundhog had begun telling him when it was supposed to end in most places. And unlike Jack's converstations with Sandy, his conversations were only about the weather and never seemed to last more than a few minutes.

"Can't I stick around for a little while longer?" Jack asked him one year. "It wouldn't be _that _bad, would it?"

"No, you can't, and yes, it can," the Groundhog had grumbled. "You'll have to be careful, or Bunnymund will be furious if winter doesn't end on time."

Jack had never actually seen "Bunnymund" himself, but he had imagined him as a normal-sized bunny. He had rolled his eyes and laughed at the Groundhog. "What's a _bunny_ gonna do? Throw an egg at me? Yeah, that's really scary!"

"Bunnymund isn't as harmless as his name implies," the Groundhog warned him, but Jack hadn't listened. So after Jack's latest prank, the Groundhog had given up and decided to just let Bunnymund deal with the teen this time.

And when Jack heard that Easter wasn't too far away, he decided to stay even longer than the usual six weeks and make that Easter just a little more fun for the kids. He had just wanted to mess with the famous Easter Bunny and maybe even meet the guy.

The blizzard was a complete accident, and Jack definitely hadn't meant for anyone to get hurt.

Bunny had been furious. When he'd first noticed that winter hadn't ended, he had decided to let it go and ignore the infamous winter spirit. And when it first started to snow, Bunny had still ignored it and planned on talking to the teen the next day. But the blizzard was the last straw.

When they met, Bunny and Jack had started fighting about the accidental blizzard until Jack had eventually flown away in anger. For a long time after that, Jack left when he was supposed to, but on Easter Sunday he would make it snow after Bunny had left certain towns.

Bunny just couldn't stand the smug teen who was always messing with his egg hunts, and after what had happened with the Easter of '68, he'd always gotten into arguments with Jack whenever they saw each other. It wasn't until Jack had become a Guardian that the two started to get along better.

But now Bunny was really starting to regret every harsh word he'd ever told Jack.

Fighting between the two Guardians was pretty common, but after yet another argument between the Pooka and the winter spirit, where both had said terrible things that weren't true to each other, Jack had only glared at Bunny before suddenly flying away.

"Bunny, what were you thinking?" Tooth scolded him furiously. "That was uncalled for!"

"Hey, he had it comin'!" Bunny grumbled, but he was already starting to feel guilty. He thought he'd seen tears in Jack's eyes. Once that would've made Bunny proud, but now...things had changed.

Sandy was creating pictures too fast for Bunny or North to keep up with him, but Tooth understood and instantly looked worried.

"You're right! We have to find him!" She began flying around anxiously and called out orders to her fairies.

"Tooth!" North frowned at the two Guardians. "What is wrong?"

Tooth and Sandy shared a guilty look. "Well, uh - " Tooth stammered, looking nervous. "It's hard to explain."

Bunny stood straight up, his ears twitching. There was something the other two were hiding. And North seemed to think so too. That, or maybe he just had another bad feeling. _"In his belly"_, Bunny thought, rolling his eyes.

Either way, North decided to put off asking questions until later.

"We will find him," he assured them, then barked, "Bunny! Go to Burgess!"

"Wha - Wait, why me?" He only got three glares as an answer. He muttered under his breath and tapped the floor impatiently. "Fine."

Jack was sitting in the branches of a tree near his lake and watching it snow heavily. In his hands was a small blade he'd found a few days before. Then Bunny suddenly hopped out of a tunnel nearby. Jack hurriedly tried to pull his sleeves down but somehow managed to drop the blade. He tried to catch it, but it slipped through his fingers.

"No!" he whispered frantically, his eyes widening.

_Jack has to be around here somewhere if it's already freezing this much_, Bunny thought, rubbing his arms and shivering in the cold. _If I were Jack, where would I be?_

Something shiny fell out of a tree. Bunny glanced at the spot in the snow where the thing had landed.

Underneath the light of the full moon, the blade gleamed with dark spots. It was hard not to miss.

Jack bit his lip and moved into a crouch, ready to fly away, while Bunny picked the blade up carefully.

Bunny winced at the cold...metal in his paws. But he frowned when he noticed the blood. _What happened here?_ He was starting to get a bad feeling. He didn't want to look up, but he forced himself to.

Jack's eyes were wide with fear as they two Guardians stared at each other.

"Jack?" Bunny's voice was low, careful. "What is this?"

Jack's voice was shaky. "Would you believe me if I said nothing?" It was one thing for Sandy to know. He trusted Sandy, but Bunny was different. The two had been fighting less than an hour ago! Bunny was the last person he'd wanted to find out.

A fairy suddenly appeared above them, squeaking anxiously before flying away again. But neither of the Guardians seemed to notice.

Jack didn't know how to react. His first instinct was to run, to fly away, but he couldn't force himself to move yet. He only held his breath and waited for Bunny to say something, even if he didn't want to hear what the Pooka had to say.

Bunny hesitated and looked at the object in his paws. He didn't have much experience with people who self-harmed. He could only help them to keep holding onto whatever hope they had left, and sometimes that didn't even work.

Hope, no matter how small it got, could keep them going. But it didn't always stop them from hurting themselves. People lost hope so easily, and for one of those people to be Jack... And then it occurred to Bunny that right now he was the reason for Jack cutting.

"Listen - " Jack was actually surprised that Bunny was speechless. He usually had a quick comeback or a snarky comment for any kind of situation. The fact that he didn't know was both worrying Jack and annoying him. "I'm terrible at this, but...whatever's goin' on... We're all here for you, mate. And if I'm ever too hard on ya, then...just say somethin'. Don't just keep it all bottled inside. I mean - " Bunny shook his head ruefully, his ears drooping. "Can ya come down from there?"

Jack stared at him, confused. _Is he trying to apologize? He really _is_ terrible at this. _Jack jumped out of the tree cautiously, and the wind gently place him a few feet away from the other Guardian. The wind was ready to whisk him away, but now Jack was more willing to listen to whatever Bunny had to say.

"What I'm tryin' to say is - " Bunny looked down. "I - I'm sorry. I didn't think - " He stopped, then changed whatever he was going to say. "I didn't mean to hurt you or anything."

Jack rubbed his arms lightly, causing the cuts to sting. He ignored them and nodded slowly.

"I'm okay. See?"

Jack grinned suddenly and spun around with his arms held out, and for a moment Bunny could almost believe him. But the stains on his sleeves gave him away.

"Obviously not, if you're hurting so much." Bunny motioned to the boy's sleeves.

Jack's smile faded. "Nobody cared," he stated flatly. "And now that you know about this, _now _you're caring? Seriously? What, are you feeling _guilty_ now?"

Bunny winced. "It isn't like that, Jack. All of us - we've always cared." And in the last few years since Jack became a Guardian, they had cared. Jack knew that. But he frowned when he heard "always".

"Right," Jack snorted, "and I _wasn't_ alone for three hundred years."

"But you have us now," Bunny pointed out firmly. Jack gave him a disbelieving look, and Bunny sighed. "Look, maybe we weren't there for ya before, but we're here for you now. Doesn't that count for something?"

Sandy arrived before Jack could reply. He landed silently next to Jack and tugged on the youngest Guardian's sleeves with a concerned look and a question mark.

Jack grinned again, and Bunny wondered how the winter spirit managed to make it so believable.

"I'm okay," Jack told Sandy reassuringly, "and I promise it won't happen again." _Maybe_, he added silently.

Sandy nodded and smiled, believing Jack.

"Wait a sec." Bunny looked between the two, confused. "You knew about this?" He tossed the blade to Sandy, who caught it and examined it.

The Guardians of Dreams nodded sadly, and Jack looked embarrassed - or ashamed, Bunny wasn't sure once the teen looked down.

"And you didn't tell us?" Bunny said slowly, not sure what else to say.

"I asked him not to," Jack said defensively. He pulled his sleeves up, and the other two Guardians recoiled. "There. Happy? Now you know, so just leave me alone, okay?"

"Jack - " Bunny placed a paw on the boy's shoulder to keep him from running away too soon. "Just - just remember that we're always here for ya, mate. You're not alone anymore, not if you don't wanna be."

Jack was quiet for a moment before he shook off Bunny's paw and mumbled a quiet, "Thanks." Then he turned and flew away as the snow slowly stopped falling.

Bunny looked over at Sandy, who shrugged.

It took Bunny a moment to realize something else. "Wait - so you and Tooth knew? But me and North didn't?"

Sandy face-palmed and shook his head. Then he started to head back to North's.

"What?" Bunny called after him. "I'm askin' a serious question! Sandy!" Bunny grumbled under his breath, tapped the ground and headed back to the North Pole. He took his time back, thinking about everything that had happened. But there was something that kept repeating itself in his mind.

_"...now that you know about this, _now_ you're caring?"_

Bunny was really starting to regret how he'd treated Jack before.

"Mates, we've got a problem," he announced, hopping out of the tunnel and into the workshop, where Sandy, Tooth and North were waiting.

~RotG~

And I'm still not sure how Bunny's accent was. But at least I tried, right? :)

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story!

To **SnowFlower Frost** - Thanks! I'm glad they're not. :)

To **smallvillephantom14 **- I'm glad you liked it. :) And thanks!

To **Caithlinn13 **- Yeah, he's awesome. :) No, I have another chapter or two left, I think. Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

Jack had always heard about "Santa Claus", but he actually met the yetis before he met North. Whenever he tried to sneak into the workshop, the yetis would just kick him out again. It was pretty funny, and playing jokes on the yetis was never boring.

Jack had frozen their fur a time or two just for fun. Unlike the elves, it didn't freeze the yetis completely, but it _did_ annoy them. Then they would chase him out, and that was usually the highlight of Jack's day. Even if they weren't kids, the yetis could _see _Jack, and seeing their reactions to a new prank or to how far he'd gotten into the workshop never failed to make him smile in relief. And sometimes he could've sworn they were hiding a grin themselves.

Sandy had always shown him pictures of the inside of North's place, and Jack was always impressed by the new toys he saw each Christmas morning. And while seeing the toys and messing with the yetis were the main reasons Jack tried to break into the workshop so much, Jack had also wanted to meet North.

And he had tried to find the guy every Christmas Eve. But for a long time, Jack was always somewhere else when North stopped at Burgess, and if he was there, he'd never seen North.

North had noticed one name on the Naughty list that had appeared one day and never left. When he asked about "Jack Frost", he had heard mixed views from the other Guardians. Bunny hadn't like Jack back then and complained that the boy had messed with Easter again while Sandy had gladly shown them whatever Jack had been up to at the time. Tooth had mentioned wanting to see Jack's teeth, which were rumored to "sparkle like freshly fallen snow".

North had laughed and told her that they would have to meet Jack someday. But "someday" never came. They were too busy.

Once Jack was chosen to be a Guardian, North had been surprised. Stunned. A teenager who loved playing tricks on people? But then North had been a thief, so maybe the boy wouldn't be too bad. From Sandy's stories of the winter spirit, North had already guessed what the boy's center would be and had made Jack a matryoshka doll. It was the first gift North had ever given the troublemaker, and Jack had carried it around with him ever since then.

But now something had changed, or maybe something had been buried for too long and couldn't be ignored anymore. When Bunny arrived in the globe room, North was expecting the worst case scenario to be something like Pitch suddenly returning.

He didn't expect this.

Tooth looked around anxiously. "Where's Jack?"

"He ran off after me and Sandy found him, but that's not the point!" Bunny crossed his arms and frowned at Tooth. "How'd you know he was cuttin' himself?"

"What?" North looked at the two in confusion as Sandy arrived. "No, must be a mistake - "

"No, North," Bunny said firmly, "it isn't. Sandy knew about it too."

Sandy shrugged when the other three Guardians looked at him. He held up his hand with his pinkie out, then made a motion like he was making a pinkie promise. Then he pointed at Baby Tooth and the Guardian of Memories.

"Baby Tooth told me," Tooth said with a wince, and the smaller fairy chirped sadly.

"And you did not tell us?" North demanded sternly.

Baby Tooth squeaked and hid behind Tooth, who frowned slightly at his tone. "I tried to," Tooth said sharply, "but I didn't think Jack would appreciate it if I told you while he was there. Do you know how embarrassing that would have been for him?"

North sighed and glanced at the globe, where the lights shined innocently. What Tooth said was true, and Jack had been early at the last meeting the Guardians had. Plus, the Guardian of Memories would have a better understanding of what Jack was going through than him.

"I wasn't supposed to know," Tooth admitted, "but Baby Tooth had seen his scars."

_Jack had scars?_

That meant...he had been cutting for a while.

Sandy made a picture of a clock with its hands going counter-clockwise and motioned to Baby Tooth with a question mark.

"When Jack became a Guardian," Tooth answered softly. Baby Tooth chirped, nodding sadly.

"Wait, so - hold on, two or three years?" Bunny guessed, looking around at the other Guardians.

"Longer, perhaps?" North added, causing everyone to become quiet for a long time.

"Did he tell you how long he's been self-harming?" Tooth asked Sandy hesitantly.

Sandy shook his head. It had never came up, but...Jack had told him why.

The Guardian of Dreams created a miniature Jack out of dreamsand with several younger sand-children running around him. Jack was waving his arms and seemed to be shouting at them, like he was trying to catch their attention. The other Guardians watched silently as one of the kids raced through Jack, who had tried to leap out of the way.

Dreamsand-Jack ran away from the children and watched them from a safe distance or from flying above them.

"He looks lonely," Tooth murmured sympathetically. Sandy's pictures vanished as he pointed at her and nodded quickly. "Wait - " Tooth blinked, startled. "So Jack was - ?" She broke off as she realized what Sandy meant and covered her mouth, horrified. _He was always so - _

"Alone," Bunny finished for her. Recalling Jack's words, he added quietly, "For three hundred years."

_Right, and I wasn't alone for three hundred years._

Now Bunny understood why it wasn't so easy for Jack to just forgive them and move on.

North was oddly quiet as he thought about the whole situation.

He couldn't imagine Jack Frost - the laughing, bright teen who always argued with Bunny and messed with the yetis constantly - actually hurting himself like that.

Like Bunny, North had never dealt with teens who self-harmed, so he wasn't quite sure how to deal with Jack. The teen was like a son to the old Russian, but Jack had often made it clear that he didn't like authority. It was one of the reasons North had welcomed him but never forced him to stay.

North knew what it was like to live without rules and had understood how Jack had felt better than the other Guardians. So it made sense that the two had gotten along so well. Sandy had known Jack longer, but North was probably the one Jack related to most.

And no matter which way he looked at it, North _still _couldn't imagine the scars on Jack or even guess what the teen had gone through. He couldn't see the teen hurting himself no matter how long he'd been alone. But he guessed it made sense too.

Maybe Jack had eventually started to doubt that he existed. Maybe he had needed to confirm that he was real. But why hadn't he talked to Sandy or someone he knew? But if Jack was lonely... Chances were he didn't know anyone else. And Sandy was even more busy with his job than the other Guardians, and Jack wasn't selfish. If Sandy had been busy, he would have just walked away to deal with his loneliness on his own.

Now North was starting to feel guilty and realized...all the years Jack had spent trying to break into the workshop - maybe it had been more than a simple prank. Maybe it was a way to prove that someone could still see him, that someone could still acknowledge that he was there.

Or if it was just a prank, then maybe it was because playing tricks were all Jack knew how to get attention with. He was the Guardian of Fun, after all. He'd made it snow just to make people smile.

And suddenly North had an idea of how to help Jack. Whether or not it worked depended on the winter spirit himself.

"So what're we gonna do now?" Bunny asked finally, and everyone looked at North.

"We look for Jack," North announced, already moving to get the sleigh. "He should _not _be alone right now."

"He's right," Tooth agreed. "Who knows how he's feeling?"_ Or what he was doing..._

It didn't need to be said; it was on all of their minds.

"And what about when we find him?" Bunny asked, frowning.

"Keep him distracted until we all get there," North ordered. The other Guardians nodded before splitting up.

They searched for the winter spirit in various cold areas across the world. Canada, the Himalayas...even in the Sahara desert, where it was freezing that night. North wondered if it had ever snowed in the Sahara before, and if Jack had done it just to confuse people. That made the older Guardian smile; it sounded like something the Guardian of Fun would do.

After a few hours, North finally found Jack sitting on the edge of a cliff in Antarctica with his hood up. He was hugging his staff close to his chest and leaning his covered head on it. The wind blew around him gently, trying to comfort him.

"Jack!" North called, climbing out of the sleigh.

The teen turned around to look at North as he approached. He stared blankly at the older man for a moment before he grinned. "Hey," he greeted North, "what're you doing here?"

"Looking for you," North replied simply as he sat beside Jack. "You are not easy to find." Jack chuckled, and North smiled. "How are you feeling, Jack?"

Jack hesitated. _Does he know? Why isn't he saying anything about it? _"I'm fine." The youngest Guardian shrugged with a rueful smile. "I'm used to what Bunny says."

North noticed the teenager pull his staff closer, and fresh snow began to fall. "No one gets used to harsh words," North said quietly. "People say... 'Words cannot hurt you', but it is not true. Words always hurt."

Jack sighed and closed his eyes. "I know."

"But," North said quickly, "how long those words hurt depends on how we see ourselves. Those words can weigh us down - unless we believe in something different.

Jack opened his eyes and looked at North, confused. "Like what?"

"What did Bunny tell you?" North asked him kindly.

Jack scowled at the memory. "You heard him."

"Is it true?"

"Wha - No!" Jack looked deeply offended, almost hurt. "Why would you - ?"

"If it is not true," North interrupted him calmly, "then why are you still upset about it? We both know it is not true, and so does Bunny."

Jack realized what he meant and nodded slowly. _Believe in something different?_ "So you're saying...I shouldn't think about it?"

North nodded with a smile. Jack grinned back, but it faded after a moment.

"Hey... Can I tell you something?" He was pretty sure North already knew, but... If North didn't know, Jack didn't want him finding out through the other Guardians.

"Of course." North already knew what it was, but if saying it helped Jack, he was willing to listen...and it still hadn't sunk in yet.

"I told Sandy, and Tooth and Bunny already know..." Jack took a deep breath and had to swallow his fear. North waited patiently, then realized what Tooth meant about Jack being embarrassed. _He's ashamed of himself_. The teen closed his eyes and confessed reluctantly, "I cut myself." He bit his lip and didn't dare look up.

It was like telling Sandy all over again, only there was a slight difference. Sandy was a trusted friend; North was like a father. Jack braced himself for disappointment or even anger.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then he was pulled into a tight hug.

"They already told me," North admitted in a choked voice, and Jack was shocked to hear something like pride in the Russian's tone. "It will be okay.

Jack wasn't expecting any of this, but he sighed in relief. Tears started to fill his eyes as he hugged North back. Without thinking, he said gratefully, "Thanks, Dad."

~RotG~

This thing refuses to end. :) After_ three different versions _of this chapter, North _still _thinks too much!

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story! :)

To **Becca **- Is that a good or bad thing? :)

To **Live How You Want To Live **- I'm glad to hear that. :) Yeah, he is lucky. I guess we all have someone, right? And thanks!

To **Caithlinn13** - Yep. :) Thanks!

To **sarafine-eceips **- Only got two more after this. :) Enjoy it while it lasts, right? :)

To **SnowFlower Frost **- Thanks! :)

To **Guest **- You are the reason there's one more chapter than I originally planned. :) And I'm sorry about your feels.

To **Scones of Rage **- I read them a lot too. I don't know why either.

Y'all have a great week! :)


	5. Chapter 5

The Man in the Moon had known Jack was suffering for a long time. Ever since the night Jack had been revived, the teen had been talking to the moon, asking him why he was there, why he couldn't be seen or heard.

And while the Man in the Moon had wanted to help the poor boy, he couldn't. Jack would have to figure things out on his own. It was Jack's life, and the Man in the Moon had to stay out of the teen's way to let him live a little, to make mistakes, learn from them, and eventually learn to move on.

Jack hadn't understood at the time, but the Man in the Moon hoped he would someday.

He knew the teenager had needed a family, and he knew the Guardians would be the closest thing to a real family Jack would ever have now. He knew the Guardians would help him.

But he had also known that if he had suddenly tried to push Jack into the Guardians' lives or make him a Guardian without a reason, the other Guardians wouldn't have treated Jack seriously or with the respect he deserved, and Jack would never accept pity from them.

No, Jack would have felt worse once he'd figured out what was going on. So Jack would need a reason to join the Guardians.

When Pitch had returned, the Man in the Moon jumped at the chance to chose Jack as the new Guardian. The children needed to remember to have fun when they were losing hope or forgetting the wonder in the world. They needed to have fun while making new memories and following their dreams. They needed to remember there was still light in the darkness.

And Jack had needed to remember that too.

The Man in the Moon couldn't tell the Guardians about Jack cutting, but he wondered if Jack would ever quit. He could only watch as Jack confided in Sandy and as Baby Tooth expressed her concerns to Tooth. The moon shined brightly when the blade fell out of the tree near Bunny, and he watched over Jack and North as they talked in Antarctica.

But there was one time when the Man in the Moon worried that his plan to help Jack had failed. A few weeks after Jack had first tried to quit with the Guardians' help, they had all gotten into an argument when the older Guardians found a blade in Jack's sweater. And that meeting had ended badly when Jack had started cutting again, right in front of them, before suddenly flying away.

The Man in the Moon turned his attention to the winter spirit, who was causing it to snow heavily in Burgess...

Jack was sitting in a tree and staring at the scars on his arms. He was already regretting his actions of cutting before. After a few weeks, he'd hoped things would get better. But quitting wasn't easy.

Jack frowned at the scars and took a deep breath. _I'm so messed up. _He looked up at the moon, who shined down dimly. "Why would you choose me?" he mumbled, shaking his head. _I don't understand._

"Jack?" The older teen covered his wrists with his sleeves and leaned out of the tree to see Jamie walking around in the snow below. "Are you here?"

Jack thought about not answering, but then he decided it would be good for him to talk to Jamie. "Yeah, I'm here!" He jumped out of the tree, and the wind helped him to land gently. "What's up, Jamie?"

Jamie noticed that Jack's grin seemed forced, but he didn't mention it. "It's snowing," he said, shrugging. He smiled and added, "I wasn't sure if it was just winter or you. You never make it snow so much."

"Yeah, well..." Jack paused, then shrugged. "Sometimes I have too much energy."

"And then it snows a lot?"

"Yeah."

Jamie frowned. Something wasn't right, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He glanced at the lake instead and smiled again. "Claude and Caleb dared me to go swimming in the lake earlier."

Jack leaned on his staff, smiling. "Did you?"

"No!" Jamie shook his head quickly. "Mom and Dad would kill me if I did something like that."

Jack blinked, surprised. "You have a dad?" He'd never met or seen the guy before. _Maybe his parents are divorced?_

The younger teen shifted uneasily. "Yeah. He's never around when you come by, though. He's always working."

_So not divorced. _"What does he do?"

Jamie started to answer when there was an angry shout. "There you are!" A older man appeared, scowling. Jack stood in front of Jamie with his staff raised. The act was not seen by the man, but Jamie appreciated it. "Do you know what time it is?"

"Eight?" Jamie guessed, and Jack blinked at the fearful tone in the younger teen's voice. _What the - ?_

"Too late to be running around out here," the man said sharply, then pointed in the direction of Jamie's house. "Get back inside. _Now_."

Jack reluctantly stepped aside and looked back at Jamie, who sighed and started to head home.

Jack glared at the man standing nearby. He didn't know the man, but he already didn't like him. There was something about him that reminded Jack of Pitch. The man frowned and looked around warily, then seemed to shrug off whatever was bothering him. He walked home, and Jack noticed the wide space between Jamie and the man. Who was he?

"That was Jamie's father." Jack looked up at Tooth, who had been watching. "He's...emotionally abusive."

"He's what?" Jack was sure he had heard the term before, but he never understood what it meant.

Tooth paused, choosing her words carefully. "The technical term is psychological abuse, but it's known more as mental or emotional abuse." She nodded to Jamie's dad. "He yells a lot and cusses or blames things on others. He leaves and will come back with a horrible attitude. He told Jamie he wasn't supposed to be friends with a few kids in his class, and he insults him. But Jamie doesn't understand that he's being abused... It happens a lot." Tooth had seen many memories where a child was abused this way, and it was often hard to find a good memory for them.

Jack looked back at his friend and raised his staff, aiming for Mr. Bennet's head.

"Jack!" Tooth placed a hand on the staff and pushed it down. "It won't help." Her tone stopped him; it sounded helpless and defeated. The last time Jack had heard that tone was when Pitch had kidnapped Tooth's fairies and stolen the teeth.

"He shouldn't do that to Jamie," Jack argued, then realized something. "Why doesn't his mom do anything? And what about Sophie?"

Tooth glanced at the Bennets. "I'm sure she does try, but...love is blind." It was a weak excuse, and she hated that it was true. She'd seen so many people get hurt because of it. "He doesn't bother Sophie. He might someday, but Jamie will protect her." She knew this was true, and she was grateful. Neither of the children deserved it.

Jack's hands tightened on his staff. "But we can't do anything?"

Tooth shook her head sadly. "It's Jamie's life, and we can't interfere. We can only hope he stays strong and try to keep him happy."

Jack looked back at the Bennets, but they were gone. "Why didn't he tell me?"

"He didn't want to worry you." Tooth placed a hand on Jack's shoulder. "He knows how to deal with it, and he'll be okay." She hugged Jack suddenly, saying softly, "I'm sorry for earlier. We don't have much experience with helping people through this, and I know it's hard for you - but I hope you can forgive us."

Jack hugged her back. "It's okay."

Tooth let him go and smiled warmly. "Everyone wants to apologize, so let's go back to North's."

Years later, Jack would be helping a seventeen year old Jamie to tackle the addictive habit, but the Man in the Moon was relieved to know that Jack had gotten through it. And if Jack could, then so would Jamie.

Jack looked up at the moon, startled. He had been sitting on the Bennets' roof, protecting them from nightmares...when he finally heard something from the moon.

Over three hundred years, and he finally said something?

_Wait..._

Jack realized what the moon had said and smiled up at him. "It's okay. I think I understand why you didn't say anything before, and I guess it worked out for the best, huh? I can actually help Jamie now - and anyone else who needs someone to listen to them and understand how they're feeling...even if they don't know I exist." Jack sighed, but then he grinned at the moon again. "But thanks."

The Man in the Moon sighed in relief and smiled at the winter spirit, who was finally healing. The Man in the Moon was proud of Jack for staying strong throughout the years, for fighting and eventually overcoming the addiction.

And he was also proud of the other Guardians for being by Jack's side every step of the way, for understanding, or even just listening when they couldn't understand.

Now the Man in the Moon wished the Guardians the best of luck with helping other people who had to deal with self-harm and maybe they would even prevent a few people from trying it.

~RotG~

Short and sad chapter, huh? Next chapter will be better...and longer. Hopefully. :)

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story! :)

To **Guest** - I'm glad. :) I like it too, and it's a lot better than Jamie and his dad.

To **Guest **- You okay? :)

To **SnowFlower Frost **- I'm glad you liked it. :)

To **pottercouples1216 **- Oh, okay. :)

To **FrostFan **- You kind of disappeared for a while. I'm glad you like it. :) And I put it in here, but it wasn't as much of a conflict, huh? I was trying to focus on MiM...

To **DPfruitloop** - I didn't mean to. Sorry. :)

To **DragonWolf Guest **- I wasn't planning for him to, but he might now. :) And I was planning for the next one to be the last one, but who knows? So am I, and I'm glad you like this one. And I'll try my best. :)


	6. Chapter 6

For the Guest who said Bunny had to make it up to Jack.

~RotG~

Bunny was pretty sure he was going to regret this decision, but he had to make up for all those years of fighting and ignoring Jack _somehow_. A simple apology wasn't enough to make his guilt go away, and he doubted Jack would forgive him easily anyway.

So that was how he'd come up with this plan. As much as he didn't want to do this, he figured he still owed the winter spirit for getting the children to believe in him again, so this was really the least he could do.

Now he just had to find Jack...and he didn't have all day, not with only a few days until Easter Sunday. So he decided to stop by Tooth's first. If one of her fairies had seen Jack, they would be able to tell Bunny where he was. Plus, Jack had been helping Tooth with collecting the teeth, so hopefully he would be there already.

Jack was often visiting the other Guardians each week to distract himself. There was an annoying urge to cut every time Jack didn't have something occupying his attention.

There wasn't even a reason most of the time, which frustrated him even more.

Now he was at Tooth's palace helping sort the teeth he had collected. "It's been a month," Jack mumbled to himself. "So why do I still wanna cut?"

Tooth overheard his mumbling and sighed. She flew over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It won't be so easy to just quit, Jack," she reminded him softly. "It's not like a switch you can just turn on and off. That's why you have to keep fighting it."

Jack nodded, looking down. "I know, but..." He trailed off and shook his head. "Never mind."

Tooth gave him a sympathetic look and hugged him. "It must be hard." She let him go and went back to giving orders and sorting the teeth. Jack rubbed his arms, frowning to himself. It _was_ hard, and _annoying._

Jack was about to leave when he noticed a familiar Pooka hopping out of a tunnel. "Bunny?"

Tooth turned around and gasped before flying toward him. "Bunny, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be getting ready for Easter!" She flew around the Guardian worriedly. "Is something wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Tooth!" Bunny assured her, smiling. "Just need to borrow Jack for a while."

The winter spirit didn't like the sound of that. He landed near them and leaned on his staff. "Me? But I haven't even done anything!"

"Defensive much?" Bunny was seriously rethinking his plan. "I'm not mad."

Tooth and Jack looked at each other and shrugged. "Alright," Jack said finally, then stage-whispered to Tooth, "If I don't come back, he's not allowed to attend my funeral!"

Bunny rolled his eyes and grabbed the teen's arm. "Wait 'til next week to check on 'im," he told Tooth, tapping his foot on the ground.

"Wait, next - ?" Jack looked terrified as a hole appeared. "No! Tooth, save me!"

The Tooth Fairy wasn't sure whether to laugh or help him as Bunny pushed Jack into the tunnel.

"Will you please tell me what's going on?" she finally demanded, and Bunny heard the concern in her stern tone.

"Relax, Tooth, I'm only sayin' sorry." Bunny shrugged and added, "I'll keep 'im outta the way for a bit."

Tooth hesitated, and Bunny disappeared into the tunnel. A small flower remained behind.

The Guardian of Memories sighed. She knew Bunny wouldn't hurt Jack, but who knew what could happen this close to Easter? "...Be careful."

Jack pointed his staff at Bunny with a glare when the older Guardian arrived in the Warren. "Stop kidnapping me!"

The Pooka stared at the teen, confused. "Wha - ?"

"This is the second time you've kidnapped me!" Jack reminded him sharply, still aiming the staff at him.

"First, you're not a kid," Bunny pointed out. "Second, you agreed to this. Third, the first time was all North's idea, not mine."

Jack slowly lowered the staff. "Okay. Now what?"

And here was the hard part. "Just wanna apologize. For before."

Jack stared at him for a second before he suddenly smacked Bunny with the staff, causing the Pooka to yelp in pain and back away quickly. "There. You're forgiven. Can I leave now?" Jack glowered at the confused Guardian of Hope.

"What the heck was that for?!" Bunny rubbed his head where he'd been hit.

Jack sighed. "Can't you just let it go? I said it was okay, didn't I?" And he had once North had taken him back to the Pole after their talk.

"But it isn't." Bunny ducked the next swing and backed up some more, raising his paws in surrender. "Just hear me out, 'kay?"

Jack lowered his staff again, debating it. Then he shrugged. "Fine."

Bunny sighed quietly in relief. _Crazy kid_, he thought, rubbing his head again. "Look, I never said thanks either. For getting Jamie and his friends to believe in me again."

Jack had known Bunny was grateful, and he thought that would be enough. But Tooth had told the other Guardians that Jack still didn't know just how important he was to them. So Bunny was hoping saying the words would help Jack to see it better.

The winter spirit frowned, suspicious. Something was up, and if Bunny didn't spit it out soon -

"So I'm gonna let ya go ahead and make it snow on Easter," Bunny finally said, looking at the ground. "Just don't overdo it."

Jack couldn't help gaping at the other Guardian. "You - Are you serious?" When Bunny nodded reluctantly, Jack started to jump up and down in excitement, even doing a flip. "This is - Wow! Seriously?!"

Bunny rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. "Yeah, I'm serious, ya gumby. But don't overdo it, okay?"

Jack nodded and waved off Bunny's concern. "Yeah, I'll be careful." He turned and flew away, whooping for joy. Bunny shook his head and went back to painting the eggs wandering around.

Jack had eventually calmed down and was walking around the Warren when an unpainted egg bumped into him. He stopped and looked down at the egg as it bumped into him again, then jumped back when Jack kneeled down beside it.

"What are you doing?" Jack wondered out loud, picking the egg up. The egg sat in his hand and shivered every now and then while the winter spirit carried it back to Bunny. "Hey, Bunny! I think you lost one."

Bunny was herding a few eggs into the dye river and glanced at the egg in Jack's hand. "Put 'im down, Jack. He's gonna fall and break if ya keep holdin' him like that."

Jack put the egg down, who was quickly joined by other eggs with patterns already on them. The other eggs seemed to be showing off, and Jack blinked as the unpainted one bumped into his leg again while trying to get away.

"What's it doing?"

Bunny hardly glanced at the egg as he moved to a few others who seemed lost. "Dunno. Maybe he likes you?"

"An egg?" Jack picked the egg up again. "You talk about it like - " the teen stopped when he realized Bunny wasn't listening. He sighed and shook his head. "C'mon, little guy," he whispered to the egg, "I'll paint you myself."

Jack found a paintbrush, some blue paint and a place to sit. He set his staff down beside him and sat with the egg in the palm of his hand. He began drawing small, neat snowflakes on the egg and dotted it gently before adding a few swirls. The egg was enjoying the attention, and Jack laughed when it started hopping up and down as a few unpainted eggs passed by.

Bunny blinked at the sight as Jack put the egg in his hand down to pick up another one. He watched quietly as the other eggs started crowding around Jack.

The new egg in the younger Guardian's hands shivered, and Jack chuckled. "You're an egg," he told it, amused. "How can you be cold?"

The egg jumped up and down in place, and if it it could talk, Jack was sure it would have been yelling at him. He rolled his eyes and smiled. "Okay, I'll be quick." Bunny watched curiously as Jack painted the egg. Once he was done with that egg, he set down on the grass. "There! See, I'm all done."

"Not bad," Bunny commented, startling Jack.

The Guardian of Fun smiled and looked at the two eggs he had painted. "You think so?" The eggs were showing off their patterns and looked a lot better from a distance than up close. "It was my first try."

"It looks great."

Jack grinned at the compliment. "Does this mean I can paint more?"

Bunny thought about it, then shrugged. "Sure."

Another egg bumped into the teen, and Jack picked it up. "I think they like me."

Bunny sat next to Jack, and an egg sat in front of him patiently. He picked it up and started painting. "Wouldn't be surprised." He glanced at Jack, who paused before smiling.

After a long time, Jack lowered the egg in his hand and said quietly, "Thanks."

Bunny looked up. "For what?"

The teen shrugged, not paying any attention to the distressed, upside-down egg in his hand. "For letting me help. I know you're really protective of these guys."

"Won't let ya paint anymore if that one falls," Bunny warned him, but he was teasing.

Jack set the egg down, who stumbled on unsteady legs. "Whoops."

Bunny chuckled and went back to painting the egg in his paws. "He'll be fine."

Jack blinked at the egg as it shook itself and wandered off. "Why are they like that?"

Bunny shrugged nonchalantly. "Always have been. Never bothered to worry 'bout it."

Jack elbowed him. "Do you even know what you're giving these kids?"

Bunny nudged him back. "Yeah, a lot of hope and a long break from you."

"Oh, yeah?" Jack smirked. "Then why do kids like me more?"

Bunny had to bite back his retort. _They don't even believe in you. _Instead, he said lightly, "People think you're innocent when you're really not."

"Aw, c'mon, Cottontail," Jack taunted him, "you can do better than that, can't ya?"

The Easter Bunny held out a new egg to him. "I think I liked ya better when you were workin'."

Jack stuck his tongue out at the older Guardian, but he took the egg and started painting again.

The next few days were calm and mostly peaceful with Tooth checking on them. The only day there was any problems was the morning before Easter.

"Why do you paint them?" Jack asked Bunny suddenly. The teen had been exploring the Warren and messing with the eggs but was starting to get bored. "I mean, they can paint themselves, right? You have that river and all those vines..."

"Yeah," Bunny said, placing an egg on the ground, "but it brings back memories."

"I thought that was Tooth's job?" Jack grinned, and Bunny smiled back.

"Not always," he said quietly. He stood up suddenly, his ears twitching. "You invite someone?"

"...No. Why?" Jack held onto his staff as he looked around.

The older Guardian glanced over at the eggs. They were all finding places to hide, so Bunny decided to see what was going on.

"I thought I heard somethin'," Bunny told him with a shrug. "Watch the eggs." He ran to go check the tunnels, and Jack looked at the eggs.

The first one he had painted bumped into him. Jack looked down at it as it tipped itself back and jumped up, kicking it's legs furiously.

"What do you want?" Jack muttered, kneeling down. The egg paused before trying to climb on him. "Hey!" He picked the egg up when he heard Bunny returning.

"Alright, who's bright idea was it to give these two snow globes?" Bunny asked, and Jack grinned before turning around. The Pooka was giving the winter spirit a look that clearly said that he knew who was behind it.

Jack smiled at Jamie, who winced. "They just wanted to help," the older teen said, shrugging.

"Sophie's five," Bunny pointed out flatly.

"Hey, she helped us before," Jack reminded him, smirking.

Sophie added quickly, "I can help!"

Bunny shook his head at them. "No. Jack, take them back. They're just gonna get in the way. You _know _that."

Neither of the Guardians noticed the hurt look on Jamie's face, which vanished as quickly as it appeared.

"C'mon, kangaroo," Jack said, motioning to Sophie. "Just give them a chance."

Sophie looked a bit heartbroken at Bunny's words as she looked up at him. "Bunny," she said, holding his paw and tugging on it. "I wanna help. Can I?"

Bunny made the mistake of looking down at the little girl. And his resolve finally broke. "Fine," he grumbled, "but only for an hour."

Jamie and Sophie cheered before racing away. Jack balanced on his staff, watching them from above. "You shouldn't give in so easily," he advised the Pooka, holding up his egg. "She might take advantage of that when she's older."

"Says the one beggin' for 'em to stay." Bunny caught the winter spirit before he could join the kids. "You're not off the hook yet!"

"Look on the bright side!" Jack said quickly, landing beside Bunny. "There's six believers you won't lose this year."

Bunny let Jack go, rolling his eyes. "That doesn't mean you're getting away with this."

"Okay," Jack sighed, resigned. "What's my punishment?"

Bunny thought about it. "Babysitting." He pointed at the thirteen year old and his little sister. "Now go."

"That's it?" _I was already planning to watch them._

"And paint two dozen eggs." Bunny paused, considering this. "By hand only."

The teen stared at him, then realized he was serious. "You gotta be kidding me."

"Nope. Now go." Bunny shooed him away before going to search for any other eggs.

Jack found Sophie chasing the eggs while Jamie watched with a smile. The three spent the next hour messing with the eggs and painting the ones that still needed to be decorated. Bunny checked on them from time to time, and when the hour was up, he was the one to take them home.

Jack couldn't resist freezing the flower that appeared after the tunnel had closed. His first egg bumped into him suddenly, and he picked it up. "You again? What do you want?" The egg seemed to look around, as if confused. _Who, me?_ Jack added under his breath to himself, "You ruin Easter _one_ time and then get stuck babysitting eggs."

The egg didn't seem to like that, and it jumped up and down angrily. Jack quickly put it down before it could fall. It started to leave, but then stopped and ran back toward him, and Jack lifted his foot before the egg hit him. It started walking back the way it came and stopped again. It hopped up and down before wandering off.

Curious about the egg's odd behavior, Jack followed it. "Hey, where are you going?"

The egg couldn't answer, but it stopped and seemed to look back at him before wandering again. It led him to a small tree where a few dozen unpainted eggs were standing around and on the roots, looking confused.

Jack frowned at them. "What's up?"

The colored egg shifted, and Jack thought it would have shrugged if it could. The other eggs turned around and bumped into each other and seemed to shake it off. Jack glanced at the dye river...which was pretty far. It took a moment before it clicked.

"Are you guys lost?" The colored egg seemed to nod. "Oh! C'mon, let's go." Jack poked and pushed a few eggs gently with the end of his staff in the direction of the river. The eggs began walking, and whenever they strayed from their new path Jack pushed them in the right direction. "Almost there."

Bunny suddenly hopped out of a tunnel and nearly crashed into Jack, who nearly froze the older Guardian.

"Whoa!" The two stared at each other for a moment before they relaxed.

"Sorry," Jack mumbled, embarrassed. "I didn't see you."

"It's fine." Bunny glanced at the new eggs, bewildered. "I didn't see those before."

The winter spirit shrugged. "They got lost. That one - " He pointed at the colored egg leading the plain eggs to the river. " - found them."

Bunny looked impressed. "And you brought 'em this way?"

"Yep. Was that okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Bunny tapped the ground to summon a tunnel. "You can go. Easter's tomorrow, and people will start wonderin' about the weather - "

Jack flew by him and through the tunnel, calling over his shoulder, "Thanks, Bunny!" To his surprise, the next morning he found his first egg in a tree near his lake. He smiled and took the egg with him as he continued making it snow.

~RotG~

Last chapter was technically the last one. The next ones are just a bonus. :)

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story! :)

To **Guest **- I'm glad you liked it. :)

To **pottercouples1216** - It was supposed to be the last one, but everyone keeps giving me more ideas. :)

To **FrostFan** - I'm glad it worked. :) Not yet.

To **Caithlinn13** - I've been planning to write that chapter for a while, but it was sad. Thanks! :)

To **smallvillephantom14** - Is that good? :)


	7. Chapter 7

For DragonWolf Guest/Sol and G'syr.

~RotG~

Pitch Black was the Nightmare King, the boogeyman and every child's worst enemy. He knew everyone's greatest fears. And fear came in many forms; monsters weren't the only things that were terrifying.

Insecurity was one of the forms fear presented itself in.

He never cared much about the people who harmed themselves for whatever reason they had. But he couldn't help spending time around them either.

There was something about them that caught his attention. Maybe it was because most of them were suffering, or because they had feared being caught by their family or friends. Their fear of being alone, scared about how their loved ones would see them if they knew.

Pitch knew everyone's greatest fears, and sometimes he let the nightmares get to those teens. But he learned quickly that their fear had a breaking point, and if used too much, could easily "trigger" them. It didn't matter to him, but then they weren't scared anymore. They were usually upset or even numb. Or angry at themselves for getting so worked up after a nightmare. So he would have to find someone else.

He was still gaining his powers back when he noticed that Jack's fears had changed.

That in itself wasn't too unusual. Many children's fears changed over time, and teens would get over what made them nervous or afraid. Adults were similar.

But when he realized what it was Jack was afraid of, he was a bit surprised.

The winter spirit cut himself? Hardly Guardian material, wasn't he? But who else knew children better than a childish, immature Guardian who had been at the lowest point in his life and still manage to somehow bounce back from it? Jack knew what it was like and tried to help others, even if they didn't know it.

Pitch had been at that low point many times, so _he _knew what it was like.

Who believed in the boogeyman anymore?

But who had ever heard of Jack Frost?

Was _that_ what caused Jack Frost to cut himself?

He was the "Guardian of Fun"; if he had spent three hundred years fighting loneliness or even a depression, then he would need something to fight it with. So there was having fun to distract himself, but...if his "_problems_" became too much, he would need something to fall back on, something to ground him.

Pitch wasn't lying when he told Jack that he had longed for a family and to be believed in. But after trying to manipulate the teen, Jack had thought everything Pitch said had been lies and refused his...offer. So Pitch had gotten Jack out of the way.

If the teen was left alone to think about it, then maybe he would be more willing to join Pitch after everything was sorted out. But things didn't work out the way Pitch had planned because Jack had managed to pull himself together and overcome his insecurities in time to keep Jamie believing.

Looking back on that Easter, Pitch couldn't help feeling some resentment, but he should have excepted it.

But he couldn't help being curious about Jack's new fears. He had spent many years on his own and had never wanted to harm himself in any way. It was odd, seeing how different the two were. But Jack was a teen and would probably always be insecure about _something_.

Pitch decided to pay Jack a visit. But if there was a fight, Pitch wouldn't be able to stay for long. As much as he hated to admit it - even if it was only to himself - he wasn't that strong yet. He would need some more time.

Jack looked up at the moon, which was hidden behind clouds. That didn't seem right to the winter spirit, who had always looked up to the moon for reassurance.

"Frost?"

Jack spun around with his hands clenched around his staff, aiming the curved end directly at Pitch, who raised his hands in surrender.

The Guardian glared at the Nightmare King, who waited patiently. "What do you want?" Jack demanded coldly.

The area where Pitch's eyebrows were supposed to be raised slightly. "Is that anyway to treat your elders?" he asked, his tone almost amused.

Jack hesitated before lowering the staff. "What are you doing here?" His tone was as cold as before, but it was clear that the teen was still on edge.

Well, it was better than nothing. "I just came to talk to you," Pitch told him innocently. He clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the Guardian curiously. "That's all."

The winter spirit narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Pitch started to move, but Jack tensed visibly. So he stopped. "I noticed your fears have changed," he said after a moment, looking around the lake calmly, feigning disinterest. But... "I was curious and wanted to know why."

Jack raised his staff threateningly. _Like a cornered animal lashing out_, Pitch thought smugly. "That's none of your business."

"_Everyone's _fears are my business." Pitch paused, realizing something. "The Guardians know?"

"Yeah," Jack said warily, watching him suspiciously.

When had that happened? But it had been a while since he had seen them.

He could imagine Bunny and Tooth's reactions. The Guardian of Hope would feel guilty - after all those years of depriving the teen of hope, why wouldn't he feel guilty? And the motherly Guardian of Memories would be horrified and would probably want to fix her baby.

North and Sandy's reactions were harder to guess at. North had taken the teen under his wing, but Sandy was the one who had always shooed Pitch out of many suffering teens' rooms.

Well. "_Shooed_" was putting it mildly.

Pitch looked at him for a long moment, contemplating whether or not to tell him about them. "You're afraid your friends will find out?"

Jack bit his lip and looked away. "No. They don't." _I don't want them to._

Pitch decided not to flat out say it - it wouldn't be _fun_ if he gave it away. But it wouldn't hurt to mess with Jack a little. After all, it was a small payback for stopping him before.

"If I were you," Pitch said casually, "I would keep an eye on your precious believers. A few of them are straying."

_Jamie and Cupcake especially_, he thought, smiling slightly.

"Straying...?" Jack echoed, uneasy. _What's that supposed to mean? _he wondered. His first thought flew to Jamie, but he knew Jamie was a strong kid. He'd be fine, and he hadn't mentioned anything.

"Not everyone can handle things as well as you did, Frost," Pitch told him sarcastically, but in some ways, it was true.

Jack hadn't tried anything...drastic. That wasn't the right word, but Pitch wasn't sure there was one. Although some would consider self harm as very drastic and a weakness, Pitch had spent enough time around the teens to know that it was mostly just a distraction. From what... That depended on the person.

"Oh, yeah?" Jack frowned, his staff still raised. "How would _you _know?"

"I've lived longer than you have," Pitch pointed out simply, "so of course I know more."

"Funny." Jack grinned. "So how come I still beat you?"

Pitch scowled, but then ducked a blast of ice. _Time to go._

Jack looked around once Pitch was gone, but he thought over the boogeyman's warning. _A few of them are straying._

_ But t__hey're only in their early teens. _Jack glanced at the moon and noticed it was finally starting to come out of hiding from behind the clouds. "You think he's right about them?"

The moon didn't answer.

Jack sighed. "I hope not." But he would keep an eye on them anyway. Just in case.

~RotG~

I haven't seen the movie in a while, so they're probably out of character... Sorry.

And sorry for the late update! Me and Jess are going back to school next week... :(

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story! :)

To **Guest - **I'm glad you liked it. :)

To **Guest **- I'm like that too! :) I'm glad you love it.

To **FrostFan** - Sure! :) I already have half of it done, and I'll try to post it soon. :) Thanks!

To **Caithlinn13** - Yeah, that's true. Thanks! :)

To **vividRegulator** - Yeah, there's probably one more. :) I keep saying that...

To **Sol and G'sry - **Thanks for the idea! :) Hope it's okay...


	8. Chapter 8

For FrostFan. Sorry it's so short!

Set during the meeting from chapter 5, and it's a bit graphic.

~RotG~

When the meeting began, Jack hadn't noticed the instant silence in the room. But he saw the nervous look in Tooth's violet eyes when she had greeted him with a small smile and a hug. She was obviously worried, which didn't bother him at first. He knew Tooth was a caring person who tended to worry about others, so Jack didn't think much about it.

But then...Bunny hadn't bothered to tease Jack or argue with him, even after the winter spirit had called him a kangaroo, which should have set off some alarms in the teen's mind. Not to mention the fact that North was watching him like he was a bomb about to go off at any moment, and even Baby Tooth seemed unsure of what to do.

The only one who treated him the same way as always was Sandy, who greeted him with a calm smile and a wave. Jack had smiled back and went to talk to the Sandman - the only who _wasn't_ acting weird.

Throughout the whole meeting, Jack had tried to ignore the concerned looks tossed his way and the quiet whispers when they thought he couldn't hear. He looked up at the moon and wondered if Manny would have been behaving strangely too.

Shaking his head, Jack flew on top of the globe, watching the other Guardians from above. Tooth glanced up at him but didn't say anything.

_Maybe I should leave now... _Jack had started to go when North called him.

"Where are you going, Jack? It is too soon! Come sit with us."

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly at North's tone; it had sounded a little too desperate to keep him there. But he decided to wait around for a while longer and stayed on the globe, keeping himself away from the other Guardians. Something was wrong here. Why did they keep looking at him like he was going to break if they let him out of their sight?

_Wait_. Jack blinked, surprised. Were they worried that he was going to relapse? For what? The urge to cut was still there, but he was fighting it. It was taking a lot to fight it, but he was doing okay so far. Even if he'd had a dozen "close calls"... Did they think he couldn't handle it?

Jack stepped off the globe and landed carefully beside Sandy, who smiled and patted his arm. The teen smiled back, but it faded when he looked at the other Guardians. How was he supposed to start this kind of conversation?

North started it for him. "How have you been, Jack?"

And then all of a sudden he was at the center of their attention. Even Bunny looked concerned, instead of annoyed. Jack shrunk slightly under their gaze, feeling crowded and needing to get away, _soon._ "I'm okay," he lied, trying to appear nonchalant as he shrugged.

Sandy was the only one to notice the boy's discomfort. The older Guardian was used to dealing with this, and he knew Jack would open up about it eventually but not under so much pressure. He was more likely to run away again, but Sandy wasn't sure how to draw the attention away from the nervous teenager.

Before he could do anything to help, Jack had taken a step back, saying casually, "I was planning to go see Jamie again. It's been...fun." He knew it was a pretty terrible lie, but he tried to cover it up with, "But I have to go. See you - "

"Jack, wait!" Tooth caught him by his sleeve, and the teen gave her a confused look. She let him go and stammered out excuses for him to stay.

Sandy shook his head. The others meant well, but they had no idea that they were making things harder on Jack. Tooth probably knew and was trying to fix that. But it didn't seem to be going the way she hoped.

Jack's patience was wearing thin. "I'm _fine_," he told her in a sharp tone; Guardian or not, he was still a teen who didn't like being smothered. "I'm just going to Jamie's."

He pulled away, but a soft, metallic noise caught everyone's attention. They all looked down at a blade that had slipped out of Jack's pocket. What Jack thought of as close calls were small cuts that he didn't count as relapses. He only did a few cuts when he really couldn't handle it. It just seemed easier to try easing off of it little by little than all at once.

However, the Guardians didn't see it that way at all.

"Jack!" Tooth gasped while Baby Tooth squeaked, and an exclamation point appeared above Sandy. North and Bunny were speechless. "Please tell me you haven't - "

Frustrated and wanting to get away, Jack snatched the blade up, saying quickly, "It's nothing, Tooth. I just found it earlier - "

"And didn't throw it away?" Bunny asked disbelievingly, crossing his arms with a slight frown.

"Look!" Jack said sharply as he took a few steps back, trying to put space between himself and the ones he cared about. The ones who hadn't believed in him before. "I know I've made mistakes before, but that doesn't mean I'll start again."

"Jack, we just need to know that you're able to handle it," Tooth said gently, reaching out to place her hand on his shoulder. Jack moved away, so the Guardian of Memories pulled back. "We're not saying that you relapsed." She looked at Sandy for confirmation, but he looked uncertain of what to think about it. Then she looked at North and Bunny, and both of them didn't seem convinced either.

Starting to feel betrayed and cornered, Jack told them angrily, "I haven't relapsed. You'd _know _if I did, because it looks just like _this_." And he lifted his arm and pulled his sleeve down in a swift movement, slicing the blade across his pale and already scarred arm, barely feeling it. Then another time, just to help the cornered feeling from the current situation to fade as the faint sting of the blade set in slowly.

The Guardians all froze, too horrified and stunned to speak or do anything. How was someone supposed to react to something like that?

There was a long silence as the winter spirit moved to take advantage of their shock and flew away; he was still feeling uneasy in their presence and needed to get away before he could relax. But later he would regret what he had done and feel a lot of shame from it. But for the moment, he felt the relief settling in and the stress and fear slipping away.

~RotG~

I saw the movie on tv earlier and remembered that I needed to update... I might do a chapter where Jack's already recovered, so maybe that'll be less depressing than this one. Not sure yet...

Thanks to everyone who's favorited/following this story! :)

To **pottercouples1216 **- Glad you liked it. :)

To **Caithlinn13 **- I'm glad to hear that, but this one was just really depressing. :(


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